Astros reach five-year extension with Lance McCullers Jr.

Photo courtesy of Tim Bradbury/Getty Images

The Houston Astros and right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. have reached an agreement on a contract extension worth five-years and $85 million.

The deal will keep McCullers Jr. in Houston through the 2026 season.

McCullers Jr., 27, was drafted by the Astros in the first round of the 2012 June Amateur Draft, and has spent five major league seasons with the team. He has a career ERA of 3.70, and averages ten strikeouts per nine innings.

His 2020 season, which was McCullers Jr.'s first season back from Tommy John surgery taken in 2019, McCullers Jr. pitched 55 innings in eleven starts during the shortened season, going an even 3-3 in that span. His ERA on the year was 3.93, a positive number considering his long rehab and time away from professional baseball.

McCullers Jr. had long been known to desire a contract extension with the Astros, proclaiming as such multiple times on his Twitter account. McCullers Jr. is widely considered a fan favorite, and is generally loved within and outside of the clubhouse.

This year, McCullers figures to slot in near the top of the rotation, alongside Zack Greinke, with Justin Verlander recovering from Tommy John surgery. General manager James Click and the rest of the Astros obviously hope to get a lot of innings out of McCullers Jr. a year removed from his first action since TJ surgery.